How Looking Backward Can Be the Key to Moving Forward in Business

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No business ever made it big without learning from the past. In today's post, we'll look at just how you can leverage where you've been to better define where you're going.

There’s a reason that some of the biggest businesses in the world are also the oldest: they’ve had time to learn from their mistakes. No company is entirely infallible, especially in those early days. So if you’re a small or medium sized business owner and you’re looking to grow, don’t be afraid to make a few mistakes. Provided you learn from them, of course! You can read all the business books in the world and take advice from a thousand self-proclaimed gurus, but nothing will help you as much as trying something for yourself. Let’s take a look at how what you’ve done before can help you to make better decisions going forward.

Leveraging sales data to identify trends

One of the most valuable forms of data your company has is its sales history. It can help you to make predictions in a number of very important ways. First and foremost, you can take a very high-level approach to your marketing strategy based on what’s worked (and what hasn’t in the past). This kind of information is like gold-dust, because it can save you from costly trial and error. Instead, use the data to make decisions based on seasonal trends, the success of previous campaigns, as well as the relative volume of sales. With all of this information to hand, you can create a bulletproof marketing strategy based on real empirical data.

Customer interaction success stories

Another valuable source of historical data is the interactions you and your team has had with customers. Naturally, some of these will have been good, and others not-so-much. It’s understandable that you’d rather sweep the negative communications under the rug, but don’t be so hasty! These can actually teach you more than positive interactions. For example, if you’re using a system like AutoVu CRM software, you’ll be able to look back over those interactions, via email and other channels, and identify just what went wrong. Which other areas of life can you do this and quite literally turn a negative into a positive? That’s the beauty of modern business (provided your CRM is up to snuff).

Showing improvement boosts morale

Few things are more motivating for a team than positive feedback. Whether that’s a pat on the back or a free day’s holiday, the results are the same: a happy, motivated, staff member. When you have proper tracking of your company’s history in place, you’ll be able to identify key trends over time and actually transform those into visual data. Imagine being able to produce a graph that shows in a very real way the upward trend of your sales team. This alone can be very motivating for the whole company – and prove to them that their individual efforts really matter. With a CRM system that properly tracks past results, you can do this and much more.

Ready to start building on your success and making better decisions? It all begins with the AutoVu CRM platform. Browse the site today and find out just how easy it can be to transform the fortunes of your business.

About the author:

Rob Taylor

Lead copywriter and blog post creator.

If you would like to know more about AutoVu and what we can do to help your business, why not check out our Frequently Asked Questions page, or Contact Us any time to discuss your specific requirements.